CRUISING '97.

Partners Anyone? Here's Who Has Hosts

March 23, 1997|By New York Times News Service.

In an effort to balance out the preponderance of women on some cruises and to provide dance partners, a number of ship lines provide hosts. Their function is also to socialize at meals and to pitch in with some chores.

Applicants, who are single men usually ages 45 to 65, have their dancing evaluated for a $25 fee. Those hired are compensated by getting an essentially free trip, with lines often providing allowances for liquor and laundry and sometimes covering air fare. Hosts do pay Blake a $175-a-week fee.

Among the lines with hosts are these, with recruiting done by Lauretta Blake:

Cunard Line. The QE2, the Vistafjord and the Royal Viking Sun typically have four hosts each, but on world cruises the QE2 has 10 hosts and the Royal Viking Sun has 6.

Delta Queen Steamboat Co. The American Queen and Mississippi have two hosts aboard.